Which of these 2 houses would you buy?

[HouseHuntingHetty]

There are 2 houses we are interested in and there is a huge difference in price. Both require some work doing - the cheaper one more so than the more expensive one.

We would like 4 bedrooms, a study, 2 living rooms/spaces and a utility room if possible (3 kids, we both work from home several times a week).

House 1: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62909682.html

This house would require new floors downstairs, new carpet on stairs and bedrooms and possibly a new kitchen further down the line (5yrs?).

House 2: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83059103.html

This house would again require new floors & carpets, new kitchen and bathroom. We would also convert one half of the double garage to create a second living room.

Location wise, they are right opposite each other on the same Street.

Which one makes more financial sense to you?

We're going round in circles so any thoughts welcome! Thanks!

@chocolatedeficitdisorder

I know- I also live in Scotland. However it's not guaranteed that by the time our DC get there this will still be the case. I grew up in England and my parents didn't save for us because they used to have free tuition and grants. By the time we got to uni this had all changes and they regretted not thinking about it before. We are saving accordingly- if tuition is still free then we can the spend the money on house deposits or student rentals or..... but it's not massively wise to be too smug about us not currently having tuition charges for university!!

House preference aside I’d caution about paying so much more for a house in the same street, especially if it’s not almost perfect. Have you considered any others?

I'm going to be in the minority and say I like house 2. I hate the outside of the first one and I'd have to get rid of the conservatory (can't stand them).

Go for space, don't worry about things you can change easily like flooring. We bought a house in December and we got a lot of extra room and it was cheaper than other houses as the inside needed work. I love a project so was fine with this, we even have to move the whole staircase location to work for us better.

House 1 just seems so much nicer to me....good luck!

another vote for house 1 much bigger

I prefer house 2. The garden would do it for me. Don't like conservatories as they're usually a waste of space and underused (mine was!). With the money you could spend on house 2 it would be fab. As others have said the decor is quite similar/ dates in both but the flow of 2 seems nicer.

Neither has any character.

If you can afford it, the first one (that costs more) .... I'm thinking of this from the perspective that i have young kids so the family room would be a play room and in their teens, their own living room. I also like the separate dining room and the conservatory area too.
The whole living space & garden area is just much bigger on that house so if I was choosing and could afford either, it would be that one for me.

I think your indecision is because you want 1 but feel that maybe you should go for 2 because it's cheaper and would be OK. Think how many houses you are planning on spending in your new home, do you want to buy something that is ok and will do when you can spend more to get something I think you really prefer?

I'd go 1!